Sweet, Sweet Sleep

It's been 3 nights is a row now that I've gotten 6-8 hours of sleep. And, wow - is it sweet!

Previously, and for the last 4 or 5 weeks, since taking Prednisone, I had only been getting about 4 hours of sleep. And I didn't feel too bad. In fact, quite the opposite. I've had a sort of manic drive to get things done - particularly at night, say between the hours of 11pm and 2am, when a sane person would be fast asleep.

Try as I might - Sleepy time tea, calming lavender scented lotion, high protein bedtime snack, even warm milk - I remained WIDE AWAKE late into the night.

At the hospital, the doctor had given me a prescription for Ambien. It didn't work for me there, or at home. I even tried doubling the dose. Nothing. Not even the slightest drowsiness. Hmmfff....

My mom-in-law recommended I try Melatonin, which I did, at only a small dose of 0.75 mg. It worked great! I was so happy! Until...

It occurred to me that it may be prudent to check if there are any drug interaction warnings for melatonin. (Yes, you should always do this before taking something - oops, brain freeze I guess!)within about 2 seconds of looking it up on Google, I found out you should not take melatonin while taking prednisone, as they counteract each other. Oops, again - so no more melatonin (though I will keep it in mind for later).

That was a few weeks ago. And now, finally, it seems things may be improving. I am tapering down the Prednisone dosage (right now at 25mg per day, tomorrow I go down to 20mg), so maybe its reached a low enough level to allow me to sleep - and of course, will only get better as the dosage gets lower.

I dare to hope that 3 nights in a row establishes a pattern, not merely a coincidence, and that the sleep is here to stay.

Again, this is all a new experience for me. Likely there are many of you out there who have been there, done that - perhaps several times. Does anyone have any gems of advice on battling prednisone sleep deprivation? If so, please share...

Pizza Face! Prednisone and Acne - Argh!

It's as bad as it sounds. I'm glowing with the classic complexion of a hormone ravaged math nerd from the latest teen movie. Literally, hundreds of tiny pimples all over my face, neck, and chest - help!

It's another lovely side-effect of the Prednisone, which I am currently taking at a dose of 25mg per day. I'm weaning off, so the dosage is being reduced weekly, but it seems the break-out is only getting worse.

It started several weeks ago, but I was so thrilled to finally not be sick, that a little dermatitis seemed hardly consequential. However, the giddiness is starting to wear off, replaced by a growing horror each time I look in the mirror.

Make-up actually helps quite a bit for my face (it's nice to be female - sorry, guys!) I use Cover Girl Simply Powder Foundation in a compact. I don't like a lot of goop on my face (especially when its 90 degrees outside), and this is really light and natural looking and works quite well at covering the redness.

At this point, I'll take a moment to triumphantly brag that everyone comments on how great I look. I'd like to believe that this is true, that the make-up works fabulously, and that they honestly don't notice anything amiss. Though I have a sneaky suspicion that their generous comments spring from one of two sources:

1. Compared to the near-death pallor and gauntness of my countenance in previous weeks, I look much better, as in: "You're standing upright and your eyes are open? You look great!"

or,

2. They notice - they indeed notice - and in a fluster of shock and sympathy say the exact opposite of what comes to mind: "You look great!"

Actually, the brutal attack to my neck and chest bothers me much more. Lots of people struggle with facial acne, so I think it seems more normal. But on my chest - whoo! - it looks like I have small pox, or scarlet fever, or something equally alarming, and I don't want to frighten anyone. This led to my discovery that nearly every article of clothing I own is v-neck and offers no coverage what-so-ever.

I played around with some cute little scarves - but alas, I do not look cute, chic, or fashionably French - I just look like a dork trying too hard to dress up.

Anyway...I guess I'm just stuck for now. I finally when to target last night and picked up some Neutrogena acne cream. I'll see if it helps.

"Get In My Belly!" I Just Ate 2 Dinners!

Seriously. Apparently, my husband ate too many cookies before dinner (so yes, you can spoil your appetite kids).

And I'm looking at my empty plate, and then over to his full plate (less two or three bites) and well, the end result was two squeaky clean plates.

How much was that? Here's what I used to cook dinner: 2 pork chops, 4 smallish sweet potatoes (yams), 2 zucchini and 1 yellow crooked-neck squash. And they're all gone, in my tummy.

So, this has been one of the side effects of being on Prednisone. I eat every 1-2 hours and have not felt full once. I spend a lot of time checking the clock to see if it would seem quite glutenous to eat again, and quite so soon.

I have been teased my whole life for my lack of appetite, so this is quite a new experience. And absolutely fantastic compared to the previous 2 months of being able to eat nothing. I can't wait to get off the Prednisone, but for now I'll gladly take advantage of this ravenous oddity and try to pack on the pounds before I start the 6MP.

Again, this is all a new experience for me, so I don't have any past experience to prepare from. But "they" all say to eat, eat, eat when you're feeling good.

SO...what is there to snack on?...